Gilmar Mendes

Brazilian jurist and politician

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous.
Find sources: "Gilmar Mendes" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Ferreira and the second or paternal family name is Mendes.

His Excellency

Gilmar Mendes

Justice of the Supreme Federal Court

Incumbent

Assumed office
June 20, 2002
Appointed by| Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Preceded by| Néri da Silveira[1]
53rd President of the Supreme Federal Court
In office
April 23, 2008 – April 23, 2010
Vice President| Cezar Peluso
Preceded by| Ellen Gracie
Succeeded by| Cezar Peluso
Attorney General of the Union
In office
January 21, 2000 – June 20, 2002
President| Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Preceded by| Geraldo Magela
Succeeded by| José Bonifácio de Andrada
Personal details
Born|  (1955-12-30) December 30, 1955 (age 69)
Diamantino, Mato Grosso, Brazil
Alma mater| University of Brasília (LL.B., LL.M.)
University of Münster (LL.M., LL.D.)

Other judicial positions

* 2016–2018: President, Superior Electoral Court
* 2014–2016: Vice President, Superior Electoral Court
* 2013–2018: Effective Justice, Superior Electoral Court
* 2010–2013: Substitute Justice, Superior Electoral Court
* 2008–2010: President, National Justice Council
* 2006–2008: Vice President, Supreme Federal Court
* 2006–2008: Vice President, National Justice Council
* 2006–2006: President, Superior Electoral Court
* 2005–2005: Vice President, Superior Electoral Court
* 2003–2006: Effective Justice, Superior Electoral Court

Gilmar Ferreira Mendes (born December 30, 1955) is a Brazilian Justice of the Supremo Tribunal Federal (Brazilian Supreme Federal Court), appointed by then President Fernando Henrique Cardoso in 2002. Mendes was the Chief Justice of the Court for the 2008–2010 term. Earlier, he had been the Attorney General from 2000 to 2002.

He has been criticised by legal scholars[2] and journalists[3] for the supposedly opportunistic political motivations of his rulings, and mocked[4] for his alleged penchant for freeing powerful politicians suspected of corruption. In 2009, fellow Justice Joaquim Barbosa confronted[5] him during a televised session of the Court, comparing him to a local criminal leader who commanded "thugs".

## Early life

[edit]

Mendes was born in Diamantino, Mato Grosso. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Law from University of Brasília, received his master's degree in Law from the same university, another master's degree in Law from University of Münster (Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster) with the dissertation "Presupposed Admissibility of the Abstract Norm Control in the Federal Constitutional Court" (Die Zulassigkeitsvoraussetzungen der abstrakten Normenkontrolle vor dem Bundesverfassungsgericht) and a PhD in Law from the same university with the thesis "Abstract Norm Control in the Federal Constitutional Court and the Brazilian Supremo Tribunal Federal (Die abstrakte Normenkontrolle vor dem Bundesverfassungsgericht und vor dem brasilianischen Supremo Tribunal Federal).[6]

## Career as Supreme Court Justice

[edit]

Gilmar Mendes was assigned to the Supreme Court by presidente Fernando Henrique Cardoso. During his tenure, Mendes took the position of vice-Chief Justice (2006–2008) and then took oath as Chief Justice (2008–2010). Mendes was also president of the Nacional Justice Council (2008–2010), and implemented a national plan to modernize Brazilian Justice, which resulted in the judgement of 2.72 million old cases (dated before 2006).[7] During his tenure, other measures were taken to enhance dynamism and efficiency in the Brazilian judicial system, such as the creation of the Electronic judicial process and the lower criminal and civil virtual courts, among others.

In addition to his role as a leading judge, Mendes has contributed to doctrine and research, having published many books, articles and participated in academic events.

## Controversies, scandals and accusations of corruption

[edit]

Gilmar Mendes was the least supported nomination to the Supreme Court ever approved by the senate, with three times more senators voting against him than the next most rejected justice, Eros Grau [pt].[8] Shortly before confirmation, Mendes was accused of paying R$32K with funds from the Attorney General's office to a law school prep course owned by then-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso who he still served as attorney general at that time.[citation needed]

In July 2008, Gilmar Mendes granted two habeas corpus to the Brazilian financier Daniel Dantas, investigated and arrested by the federal police in operation Satiagraha.[9] Mr. Dantas was arrested and released by Gilmar Mendes' order twice in less than two days. Political bloggers and political personalities started to refer to him as "Gilmar Dantas" after that episode, highlighting his deep connections to the interests of Dantas. Shortly after the second habeas corpus, a group of 134 active federal judges and personalities signed a petition supporting the judge who had issued the arrest warranties against Dantas, judge Fausto Martins DeSanctis [pt], against Mendes' decision[citation needed]. In the same occasion, Mendes accused the Federal Police of tapping his phone, claiming that Brazil was becoming a police state under President Lula and his appointee for the federal police, Paulo Fernando da Costa Lacerda [ pt]. Gilmar Mendes was never able to show any evidence of the tapping, but the attention given the supposed scandal by the Brazilian media eventually ousted Lacerda from his position.[10]

Around the same time in 2008, the Brazilian weekly magazine CartaCapital published a piece on the scandals surrounding Gilmar Mendes, denouncing his connection with the law school prep course among other ethically dubious conduct from the justice, particularly paying R$8 million to buy his partner's share out in the endeavor as a way to silence him about how the institute was administered.[11] Mr. Mendes sued the publication, saying that the article was "denigrating his public image" and "hurting his credibility". In November 2010, judge Adriana Sachsida Garcia, from the Tribunal of Justice of the State of São Paulo dismissed Mr. Mendes' claims.[12]

In August, 2012, Gilmar Mendes asked the Brazilian Federal Police to investigate Wikipedia. According to the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo, he argues that the Portuguese language Wikipedia's article showcasing his biography uses "journalistic sources" which are not adequate for an "informative article". The sources he referred to were from a weekly magazine that gathered denunciations of corruption involving him.[13]

In April 2013, Gilmar Mendes was again in controversy, blocking legislation that would have imposed checks and balances to the power of the Brazilian Supreme Court, claiming that the legislation would be unconstitutional. Never before in Brazilian history had the judiciary branch intervened to stop a law or constitutional amendment before it was even debated and approved by the people's representatives.[14]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Ministros :: STF - Supremo Tribunal Federal". STF.jus.br. 1999-12-03. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
2. ^ "O inimigo do Supremo". 5 June 2017.
3. ^ "O Papai Noel do Supremo - 19/12/2017 - Bernardo Mello Franco - ex-colunista".
4. ^ "Ueba! Gilmar solta de baciada! - 24/08/2017 - José Simão - Colunistas".
5. ^ "Ministro ataca Mendes: 'Não está falando com seus capangas' - Política".
6. ^ "Currículo do Sistema de Currículos Lattes (Gilmar Ferreira Mendes)". Archived from the original on 2008-09-09. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
7. ^ "Justiça conclui mais de 2,7 milhões de processos da Meta 2 | Notícias Jusbrasil". Cnj.jusbrasil.com.br. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
8. ^ Pinho, Débora (2009-09-24). "IMAGENS DA HISTÓRIA: O dia em que Gilmar Mendes foi sabatinado". Consultor Jurídico (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2016-08-19.
9. ^ "Gilmar Mendes concede habeas e liberta Dantas de novo - politica - politica - Estadão". www.estadao.com.br. Archived from the original on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
10. ^ "Grampo sem áudio: a suspeita que não pode ser esquecida | GGN". Advivo.com.br. Archived from the original on 2012-05-02. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
11. ^ "CartaCapital: Gilmar Mendes é acusado de sonegação fiscal e desfalque | Congresso em Foco". Congressoemfoco.uol.com.br. 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
12. ^ "Textos Jurídicos". Jurisite.com.br. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
13. ^ "Gilmar Mendes pede à PF investigação da Wikipédia no Brasil". Blogs.estadao.com.br. 2012-08-05. Retrieved 2016-08-19.
14. ^ "STF suspende projeto sobre novos partidos | Notícias JusBrasil". Archived from the original on 2013-08-22. Retrieved 2013-08-22.

## External links

[edit]

* Mendes celebrates the 1988 Brazilian constitution at Harvard Law School in the Harvard Law Record

Political offices

Preceded by

Geraldo Magela

|  Attorney General of the Union
2000–2002  | Succeeded by

José Bonifácio de Andrada

Legal offices
Preceded by

Néri da Silveira

|  Justice of the Supreme Federal Court
2002–present  | Incumbent
Preceded by

Carlos Velloso

|  President of the Superior Electoral Court
2006  | Succeeded by

Marco Aurélio Mello

Preceded by

Ellen Gracie

|  President of the Supreme Federal Court
2008–2010  | Succeeded by

Cezar Peluso

Preceded by

Dias Toffoli

|  President of the Superior Electoral Court
2016–2018  | Succeeded by

Luiz Fux

* v
* t
* e

Current Justices of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil

President|

Luís Roberto Barroso (since 2013; President since 2023)

STF headquarters in Brasília

Vice President|

Edson Fachin (since 2015; Vice President since 2023)

Other justices|

* Gilmar Mendes (since 2002)
* Carmen Lúcia (since 2006)
* Dias Toffoli (since 2009)
* Luiz Fux (since 2011)
* Alexandre de Moraes (since 2017)
* Nunes Marques (since 2020)
* André Mendonça (since 2021)
* Cristiano Zanin (since 2023)
* Flávio Dino (since 2024)

* v
* t
* e

Presidents of the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil

* Fragoso
* Monteiro de Barros
* Bernardo de Figueiredo
* Pereira Duarte
* Pereira de Sampaio
* Pinheiro de Vasconcelos
* Marcelino de Brito
* Antônio de Vasconcelos
* Barbosa de Oliveira
* Valdetaro
* Saião Lobato
* Freitas Henriques
* Aquino e Castro
* Toledo Piza
* Pindaíba
* Espírito Santo
* D'Albuquerque
* Xavier da Cunha
* Leoni Ramos
* Pereira Lins
* Bento de Faria
* Espínola
* José Linhares
* Laudo Ferreira de Camargo
* José Linhares
* Orozimbo Nonato
* Barros Barreto
* Lafayette de Andrada
* Ribeiro da Costa
* Luís Gallotti
* Gonçalves de Oliveira
* Trigueiro
* Aliomar Baleeiro
* Elói José da Rocha
* Djaci Falcão
* Thompson Flores
* Neder
* Xavier de Albuquerque
* Cordeiro Guerra
* Moreira Alves
* Luís Rafael Mayer
* José Néri da Silveira
* Passarinho
* Sydney Sanches
* Albuquerque Gallotti
* Sepúlveda Pertence
* Celso de Mello
* Silva Velloso
* Aurélio Mello
* Maurício José Corrêa
* Nelson Jobim
* Ellen Gracie
* Gilmar Mendes
* Antonio Cezar Peluso
* Carlos Ayres Britto
* Joaquim Barbosa
* Ricardo Lewandowski
* Cármen Lúcia
* Dias Toffoli
* Luiz Fux
* Rosa Weber
* Luís Roberto Barroso

* v
* t
* e

Attorneys general of the Union of Brazil

* Castro Ferreira
* Dupeyrat Martins
* Almeida Cunha
* Cruz Quintão
* Carmo Barletta
* Mendes
* Borges de Andrada
* Ribeiro Costa
* Dias Toffoli
* Adams
* Cardozo
* Osório
* Mendonça
* Almeida
* Amaral
* Almeida
* Bianco
* Messias

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* Czech Republic
* Portugal
* Netherlands

Academics|

* CiNii

Other|

* IdRef
* Yale LUX

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template